Amy Butte in Bloomberg View on the stock market Average speculators have long since given up on understanding all the complex machinations of the modern day stock market, a development that troubles Amy Butte. "They have grown so complex, fragmented and opaque that they don't serve their stated purpose," she argues. "Rather than a place where individual and professional investors can put a value on shares and where companies go to raise capital, the markets today look more like a video game." So how to streamline all that confusion? "The SEC needs to simplify the markets," Butte writes. "It could start by mandating a limit to the types of orders allowed, say, no more than 10. The agency also should draft a rule book that we can all read and understand." My emphasis not the author's.
Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times on drones Doyle McManus isn't so troubled by the ethical implications of drones, but he is concerned about the bad reputation they're giving the U.S. in Middle Eastern countries. "Drone strikes are undeniably effective at eliminating terrorists," McManus concedes. "But too many drone strikes can also provoke a political backlash, recruiting as many terrorists as they kill." He notes that the number of Pakistanis who view the U.S. favorably has fallen from 19 percent to 12 percent since Obama took office.
On a different note, I just watched this and thought it might be of interest. http://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias.html
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
